Latest / Chip Ingram Sermon Podcast / Step In!

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Step In! · Chip Ingram Sermon Podcast

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Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
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Everywhere I go, I hear the same thing. There's
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a leadership crisis in the church. Pastors are
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hurting. Church leaders are hurting. What's it
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look like to be a leader of the Church of Jesus
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Christ? How do you do it? It's never been more
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difficult to lead, so we want to help leaders
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grow. That's today. Leadership in the church
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has never been more under fire, and the qualifications
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Paul lays out in 1 Timothy 3 couldn't be more
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countercultural. Today, Chip Ingram opens Chapter
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3 and asks, If you set your heart on being a
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godly man or woman, what would that actually
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look like? I'm Dave Drewy, and this is Living
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on the Edge. We're in a series called You Can
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Make Disciples, Personal Coaching from the Apostle
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Paul. And let me remind you that all of these
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Bible teachings can be found or shared online
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at livingontheedge .org. Well, now here's Chip
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with today's message titled, Step In. So we're
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in Chapter 3, 1 Timothy, learning from the Apostle
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Paul, life coaching. Big takeaway and tip number
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one is that everybody needs a coach. You've got
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to step up. We all have to ask, what's that look
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like in our life? Second, you've got to step
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down. Got to become men that are strong by kneeling,
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praying, surrendering our rights, our way, our
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agenda, and experiencing God's supernatural power
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to bring about change. Tip number three, coaching
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tip number three, is if you aim at nothing, you'll
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hit it every time, right? If you aim at nothing.
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You'll hit it every time. I don't know how many
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of you had fathers that were in the military
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or maybe your fathers that were coaches. My dad
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was both. And if I heard this once, I think I
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heard this a thousand times. And the other one
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I heard was, if you fail to plan, you plan to
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fail, right? So by the time I was about 12 years
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old, I was a workaholic because you got to set
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goals. And so, and I really look back, and I
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hope you take this in a good way. So many things
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my dad built into my life, I look back and think,
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I'm so grateful. It was really hard at the time.
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So I remember going out as a little kid. I was
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eight years old, and we had a lawnmower. And
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you know, they used to have the handles, and
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then there was a little bar. And I wasn't big
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enough to reach the handles like this, but I
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could take the bar. And so I'm eight years old.
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And whether he was a crazy parent or he thought,
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hey, you know. So I said, I'd like to mow the
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lawn. He said, okay. So, I mean, it took me forever,
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but I'm pushing it. My mom's going, please don't
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let him cut his feet off. So by the time I was
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nine, I had three lawns. By the time I was 12,
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I had a little lawn business of about eight or
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ten lawns and one really big one and two paper
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outs. And I did pretty well. So when I was 13,
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I lent my parents $3 ,000 at 6 % interest. I
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was a little entrepreneur. And they paid me.
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They wanted to buy a piece of land behind our
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house. And then that played into everything.
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It was like, okay, I was about 13, and the basketball
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coach in junior high recommended because I was
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5 '3 as a freshman. that maybe wrestling was
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my career. I should be a wrestler. And that was
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just like screaming, no, be a basketball player.
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So it's in the Midwest so that, I mean, on Friday
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night, you could rob everyone in the entire town
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because they were either at the football game
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or the basketball game. And I remember sitting
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in there and thinking as a 13 -year -old, someday
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I want to be on that basketball court. I want
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to have a scholarship. I want to graduate near
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the top of my class, and I want to have a pretty
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girlfriend. Ready, set, go. And I was maniacal
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in my pursuit. And I remember graduating from
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high school, taking my hat, throwing it in the
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air, and as an unbeliever sitting in a big circle
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of about 20 or 25 people, we used to call them
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reefers back then, passing it around and talking
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about what we're going to do with our future
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life. And I was sitting next to Jackie. And I
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didn't have any convictions about drugs. At my
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size, I thought, I can't put anything in my body
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that's going to limit my... I was always so small.
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So I was about 5 '11 by then. And so I passed
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it on. And Jackie turned to me and said, you
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must be very happy tonight. I said, well, why
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is that? Well, you got a basketball scholarship.
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You graduated and you're top of your class. You
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got the cutest little girlfriend. And all I can
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tell you, I had never heard of the Holy Spirit.
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I mean, I'm sure I heard it in church or something.
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But I had the most overwhelming empty sense that
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I'd ever had in my experience up to that time
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at 18. Because, and I don't blame my dad, it
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was like he cared. So you will be happy. If you're
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successful, the way to be successful is set goals.
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The way to get your goals is develop a strategy.
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The way after developing a strategy is you come
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up with tactics. The way to have tactics is you
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do it every day when no one else is willing to
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get up. I was that crazy kid with gloves outside
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shooting in the snow and all those crazy things.
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Here's the problem. The goal was way too small.
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Even if you aim at something, if you hit the
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wrong thing, your life can be a disaster. And
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so what the Apostle Paul is going to do in his
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coaching tip to Timothy. Is he's going to say,
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Timothy, yeah, the goal is to straighten out
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the teaching, right? I mean, these false teachers,
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they're messing everything up. And the how -to
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is not in your power. I want you to kneel down.
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I want you to pray. I want the church, God's
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people, to live in such winsome, godly, loving
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life that we attract people rather than at this
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point raising a lot of negative attention. But
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like any leadership book you have ever read or
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ever will read, the only way you change an organization
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is it starts with leadership. Everything rises
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and falls with leadership. You want to change
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a culture, you can tweak anything under the world,
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but you either have to have a radical change
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in the leaders or you have to completely change
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out the leadership. That's why when teams lose,
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what do they do? They don't fire the players.
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What do they do? Fire the coach. When a company's
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going downhill, what do they do? Hire the CEO.
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Basically, what he's going to say to Timothy
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is, yes, we need to put a Band -Aid in this,
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and you've got to address the problems here.
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And in chapter 3, he says, if you aim at nothing,
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you'll hit it. What you have to do now, Timothy,
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is we have to develop leaders. who will be the
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kind of people that don't let false teaching
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happen and are the kind of people that live out
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this faith in a radical way so that we honor
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the Lord Jesus and the big agenda of the gospel
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goes forward. So we're in chapter 3, 1 Timothy.
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We pick it up. It is a trustworthy statement.
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If any man aspires to the office of overseer,
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it is the fine work he desires to do. And then
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he's going to give the qualifications. Two words
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by way of just quick moment here. An overseer,
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the word is episkopos. The word literally is
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a compound word, someone that looks into something.
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It's in other words, someone who's in charge
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who looks into something to make sure things
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are going okay and then gives help or direction
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or support. The other word interchanged is the
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word elder or you could translate it shepherd
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and that's just a different function. They're
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used interchangeably. He says, look, Timothy,
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whether it's a house church of 20 or 25 or 30
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people or 10 or 12 people, you know what? Remember
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how wherever we went, we found who the best leaders
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were. We put them in charge. Here's the qualifications
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going forward of the kind of men that you need
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to choose. So we want a long -term play. We want
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to solve the issues in the church for the long
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-term. And the way to do that is to develop leaders.
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And so the first thing he says, it says, if any
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man aspires, That's our good English translation.
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Literally, there's three little words. If any
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man sets his heart, if any man, in other words,
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his desire, his dream, sets his heart, like I
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set my heart to be on that basketball court.
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I set my heart to date that cheerleader. I set
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my heart to, if any man sets his heart or aspires
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to the office of overseer, it's a fine work.
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And then he says an overseer or an elder must
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be above reproach. And what you're going to see
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is he sort of bookends. Above reproach includes
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from inside the church, outside the church, how
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he speaks, what he does, his money, his marriage,
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his family. In other words, everything is, he's
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not perfect, but what you see is what you get.
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At the very end of this list, he'll say someone
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who's dignified. It's another very general Greek
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word that basically has the idea that when you
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meet this guy, you respect him. He's the kind
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of person, you respect the kind of marriage he
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has. You respect his finances. You respect how
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he handles conflict. You respect how he raises
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his kids. And so now he's going to give sort
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of a very specific list. of the kind of men you
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want to look for. You know, in baseball, I played
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baseball in college as well, and the dream was
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to be, remember, a five -tool player? You hit
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for average, hit for power, you can field, you
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have an arm, and is it speed or is it one other
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one? Yeah. I mean, that's the ultimate player
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that you're looking for. So basically what he's
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saying is, look, Timothy, we're going to deal
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with a problem. And we're gonna do it a really
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different way. We're gonna use God's power, sort
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of not our human anger and stuff. And then we
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need five tool elders. We need elders that live
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this out. And you need to develop them because
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they don't grow on trees. But what you need to
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do is you need to have a perspective. You need
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to have a profile. It's like those of you who
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are, if you're ever looking to hire someone,
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you know, here's how not to hire someone. Find
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someone you like and see if they'll take the
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job. Here's how to hire someone. What is the
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job? What are the functions? What do you need
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to do? And you develop a very clear profile of
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what are the characteristics and skills for that
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job. And then once you have the profile, you
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go try and find a person that fits the profile.
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And so that's what he's doing right here. Isn't
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it amazing how much leadership there is in the
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Bible? So he says, well, here's the profile.
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He must be above reproach, the husband of one
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wife, temperate, self -controlled, respectable,
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hospitable, skillful in teaching. All pretty
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positive. Not indulging in much wine, not a bully,
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but gentle, not contentious, free from the love
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of money. He must be one who manages his own
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household well, keeping his children under control
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with all dignity. But if a man doesn't know how
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to manage his own household, How will they care
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for the church of God? And by the way, not a
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new convert, so he will not become conceited
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and fall into the condemnation incurred by the
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devil. And he must have a good reputation with
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those outside the church, so he will not fall
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into disgrace and the snare of the devil. Deacons
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likewise, very similar, must be men of dignity,
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that big general word, not insincere, not prone
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to drink too much wine, not greedy for money,
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But holding to the mystery of, are you ready
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again? The faith, these truths, these doctrines,
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and how with a clear conscience. Remember what
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the goal of this, the goal of our instruction
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is love from a pure heart, a good conscience,
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sincere faith. He's going to weave that all the
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way through the book. These men also must first
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be tested, then have them serve as deacons if
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they're beyond reproach. So you're looking for
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these kind of men and these spiritual responsibilities.
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And then these that have more of the servant
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hands -on issues. I mean, the early church, we
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got to feed people. We got widows to take care
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of. We got all kind of very specific issues.
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So we want a little bit different giftings, but
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we got to have great character in both of them.
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Women must also be dignified, not malicious gossips,
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but temperate, faithful in all things. Commentators
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will agree or disagree whether this is deaconesses
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as an official role in the church or whether
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it's the wise of deacons. Either way, it just
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means that the women that are leading need to
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be godly just like the men. Deacons must be the
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husband of one wife, good managers of their children
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and their households. For those who serve well
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as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing
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and great confidence in the faith that is in
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Christ Jesus. Before I go on, let's just pause.
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There's a lot of different words here. You might
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jot in your notes. It's a title of a book. It's
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called The Measure of a Man by Gene Getz. I've
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taken elder groups through it, young men through
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it. I mean, he will take a short chapter on every
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one of those words. Probably where there's some
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controversy that it's worth pausing is the husband
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of one wife. people will say, well, gosh, that
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means if your wife died, I guess you can never
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be an elder. Others, if you've ever been divorced
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for any reason, even if it was an unbeliever,
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you could never be an elder. Or back then, people
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had more than one wife, like two or three. And
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that sort of was not what we're looking for in
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the model for the future. I think Gene Getz has
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a very interesting observation when he looks
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at that whole list. He just makes this one observation
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because that thing about the husband of one wife,
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has been very controversial in the church over
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many, many years. He says literally it's a one
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-woman man, and he just makes this point. Every
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single thing in that list is about character,
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not about history. So, I mean, it takes me a
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little while, and I'm not sure you're all that
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interested. You might be. I mean, most of those
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things that I just read, you don't even have
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to be a Greek scholar. See, not addicted to too
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much wine. I wonder what that means in the Greek.
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Don't get drunk. That's profound. How about not
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a lover of money? I have no idea what that means.
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I don't know. I mean, you know what this list
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is? Be a Christ -like man. Be a godly man. Don't
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most of you know what a godly man looks like?
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Most of you know what it looks like to be a loving
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husband? Not perfect, but a really good dad.
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Know what it's looked like to have things under
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control and not have a secret life? Yes, have
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our issues, right? We've all been through probably
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some level of addiction in our life and struggled
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with whether it's porn or alcohol or drugs or
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codependency or whatever. But he says, Timothy,
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this is a trustworthy statement. If any man sets
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his heart on the office of being an overseer.
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See, I think in God's perspective, the elder
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who's living the life and accepts this humongous
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responsibility of giving oversight to the church
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of Jesus Christ has far more standing than the
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biggest CEOs of the biggest companies in America
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or around the world. And it's just as big a job.
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Because as the leaders go in a church, so goes
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the church. And so he gives qualifications. And
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then in verse 14, he says, why? I'm writing these
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things to you, hoping to come to you before long.
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But just in case I'm delayed, I'm in verse 14,
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I write so that you'll know how one should act
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in the household of God. In other words, Timothy,
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I just want you to know, this is what a pastor
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does. This is what leaders do. And then he talks
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about the household of God, which is the church
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of the living God, not a religious institution.
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That's the pillar and the support, and put a
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box around this one in your Bible, the truth.
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Over and over and over, he starts with the truth.
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There is a right. There is a wrong. There is
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a God. There is one. There's one mediator. He
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came to save sinners. There is an eternity. Everyone
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will stand before a holy God. Jesus has paid
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the price for all men of all time. Those who
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receive the gift, eternal life. Those who say,
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I don't need you, I'm on my own, maybe later,
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and dis God, God says, I respect you. I will
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give you the freedom to reject me. You can be
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apart from me, but whatever you choose in this
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life, you get for eternity. I don't need you
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now. God will say, I won't force myself on you
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now or ever. And it's a Christless eternity.
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And you're bombarded by an enemy who's orchestrated
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a world system that says success and salary and
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sex and security. That'll make you somebody.
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You drive this kind of car and you have this
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kind of wife and you have this kind of logo and
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you go to these sporting events. If your kid
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makes a traveling team or he makes a scholarship
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and if you can bench press so much and blah,
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blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It
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keeps changing and changing and changing. And
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believe me. I'm just glad that by 18 years old,
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I came to the conclusion that success does not
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mean happiness. Now, I was successful in just
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a little pond, right? Just a little pond. I mean,
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my dad taught me well, and he gave it to a very
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driven, workaholic type A personality. At age
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32, I will have a beautiful wife, three kids,
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an Irish setter, a luxury car. Back then, a minivan
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was really cool. A minivan, and I'll be a leader
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in my community. It never occurred to me that
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I would fail. I mean, that's a big blessing.
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Now, because his mantra was fail, that's just
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how you learn how to take the next step. Get
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up. You fail. Get up. Get up. So I just assumed
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if I got up earlier than everyone else, I work
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harder than anybody else, and I played out my
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dad's game, that I would be 32 years old, and
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I would have a beautiful wife, an Irish setter.
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I still had, I was going to wear $300 suits.
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Because everyone on this planet has this, maybe
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it's not real clear in your mind, but you have
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this invisible picture of what success looks
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like. And if you could ever hit it, then you'd
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be a somebody. And you'd be a somebody. You just
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need to understand, the games that people play,
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it's just all relative. You got to ask yourself,
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what and who do you really want to be? And make
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sure, as the old illustration goes, that your
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ladder is really leaning on the right wall. Because
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you can be a successful failure. And when you
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have lots of money, it's really hard to raise
20:06
good kids. Insurance companies have done demographic
20:09
studies. The only people that have worst problem
20:12
with their kids, as measured by times in rehab
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and all the rest, is the absolute lowest of the
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poor of the poor and the richest executives.
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Be careful what you set your heart to be. And
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what's great is if you set your heart to be a
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godly man, it's a fine work you desire to do.
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And you become then, you know how to act in the
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household of God, which is the church of the
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living God, the pillar and support of the truth,
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and beyond measure, great is the mystery of,
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circle the word, godliness. Great is the mystery.
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I don't understand. I know it means renewing
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your mind. I know it has to do with being in
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his word. I understand it has to do with repenting
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of my sin. I understand I need the fellowship
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of men that I can really be me with. I understand
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I have to take risks and challenges. I have to
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receive forgiveness. There's all kind of things.
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But great is the mystery of godliness. And then
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there's this mantra, this code. that they wanted
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to summarize the work of Jesus in the church.
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And so it went like this. He who was revealed
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in the flesh, incarnation, was vindicated by
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the Spirit at his baptism, seen by angels in
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temptation. Remember, after he defeated Satan,
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the text says, and he was ministered to by angels,
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proclaimed among the nations. The discipleship
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process went forward, believed on the world,
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taken up into glory, ascension. And he gives
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us this picture. The coaching nuggets that I
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have for you is that I write to you so that you'll
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know how one ought to conduct himself in the
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household of God. And what I would ask you is
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how are you conducting yourself in the household
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of God? And by the way, that's again, don't just
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picture the building. I'm talking about the living
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stones, the relationship, the reality of the
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church of God, the pillar and support of the
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truth. And then our response, if any man aspires,
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and let me encourage you to underline, sets his
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heart on the office of overseer, or I think just
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being a godly man, it's a fine work he desires
22:37
to do. And here's, I think, the ultimate criteria.
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Honestly, His first line must be above reproach.
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The way you're above reproach is you take all
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the other things and you go on a journey to become
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like that. And then you end up above reproach.
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So, okay, thank you, Paul. If I was in Ephesus
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and my name was Timothy, I would kind of know
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what I was supposed to do, right? Who I'm supposed
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to look for. Here's the profile. I need to develop
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these kind of leaders. Here's my question. What's
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this got to do with us? What's the application
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in the 21st century? And I'm going to suggest
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that the subject here is leadership in the church
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because all scripture, right, is profitable.
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It's inspired by God. So this passage, like the
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last chapter and every other passage, is here
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to equip us and encourage us and help us to be
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men of God who will be equipped and adequate
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for the good work God has for us. The underlying
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issue here, I think, is integrity. And when I
23:45
say the word integrity, I mean beyond honesty.
23:48
We tend to think of integrity as, well, I'm honest.
23:52
Integrity, it's actually a numerical word. It's
23:55
integration. It's the integration of your faith
24:01
in every area of life and relationships. The
24:06
way I think about it is you live the same way
24:08
Monday afternoon at 4 as Sunday morning at 11
24:12
a .m. Same way at 2 a .m. watching TV with no
24:16
one around. Same way in front of your computer.
24:20
Same way when someone comes on to you at work.
24:23
Same way when you have a couple beers with the
24:26
guys. It's just that your faith is integrated
24:30
in every relationship with everyone. That's basically
24:34
what it means to be a godly man, isn't it? It
24:36
sounds like just someone who's taken the instruction
24:38
of the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ and is
24:42
loving others with a pure heart, a good conscience,
24:44
and a sincere faith. And so I think the underlying
24:48
question is, am I willing to set my heart to
24:51
become a godly man and fulfill God's purpose
24:54
for my life? Could I pause just a minute? Man,
24:59
that is a huge question. This is what I'll tell
25:03
you for sure. Everyone is pursuing becoming someone.
25:09
In fact, if we could do an inventory, and I don't
25:13
know you all, you don't know me, but I can just
25:15
tell you that the person sitting in your seat,
25:17
if we could back up a camera five years or 10
25:21
years, and I could have someone just pour out
25:24
of your brain, here's all the things you've read,
25:26
all the things you've studied, all the places
25:28
you've been, all the decisions you've made. all
25:31
the relationships you have, it would produce
25:33
the person sitting in your chair right now. And
25:35
here's the deal. Five years from now, you will
25:39
not be who you long to be, hope to be, dream
25:42
to be. You will be the person, depending on what
25:45
you put into your mind, who your friends are,
25:47
the decisions that you make. But it all starts
25:53
with something very, very simple. Unconsciously,
25:57
we all set our heart on something. And Christians,
26:02
we're like liars. I mean, don't verbalize what
26:08
your dream for your life is. Just sit down. I've
26:12
asked a lot of guys to do this. Let's have a
26:15
small group Bible study. See if you can get anyone
26:17
to do this. I'm coming up with goose eggs. Maybe
26:21
one person privately. Let's really become men
26:24
of God. You bring your tax return and I'll bring
26:27
my tax return. And let's put on the table, where
26:31
all of our money came in, where we spent it,
26:34
where we saved it, and where we gave it. I'll
26:37
bring my credit card statements and my computer.
26:40
Next, here's my browser. Go real fast. I want
26:44
you to see everywhere I've been on the internet
26:46
and everything I've checked out, every site I've
26:48
ever been in the last year. By the way, here's
26:51
my... I mean... You show me where your time goes,
26:56
where your finances go, and where your mind goes
26:59
and your energy goes. I'm telling you, that's
27:01
where you're headed. But we have this amazing
27:04
ability, and I think the enemy works much, is
27:07
we live in this denial like, I really, I verbalize,
27:11
so I believe my own lies. I want to be this kind
27:13
of man. I want to be this kind of husband. I
27:16
want to be this kind of Christian. And my behavior
27:18
says, I'm becoming this kind of man, this kind
27:21
of husband. this kind of Christian. And there's
27:23
conflict. See, a good conscience is they're integrated.
27:28
Perfect? Absolutely not. In fact, one of the
27:31
marks, I think, of a godly man is you hear them
27:33
repent a lot. I find in my deep relationships
27:38
with them, we're telling one another, man, I
27:41
messed up last night. I was critical of my wife
27:44
or I was way too hard on one of my kids or, right?
27:49
Or for some of you, man, I, I'm not a big drinker
27:52
personally, but man, I had a few too many beers.
27:56
Or that third glass of wine kind of, I said some
27:59
things I shouldn't. That doesn't mean you're
28:02
a bad person. It means you're probably pretty
28:03
authentic. But instead, we've got this culture
28:06
where people, I think most Christians spend more
28:09
energy trying to project and pretend that we're
28:11
better than we are than actually working at becoming
28:14
who God wants us to be. So here's the action.
28:21
is step in. I want to encourage you to revisit
28:25
your life goals. If you don't have any, it's
28:29
a great time. You can revisit them. And then
28:32
I'd think, how does God measure success? Would
28:36
you think like the God of heaven, the living
28:39
God, the hope of the church that's the pillar
28:43
and the support of truth that would look and
28:47
say, oh, Gabriel. Come here. See that guy? Man.
28:56
Oh, yeah, he's got his issues. They all do. They're
28:58
fallen creatures. But, man. I love his heart.
29:04
He set his heart to become like my son. He brings
29:08
me such. You know what the Bible says? Proverbs
29:11
talks about God finds great delight in the prayers
29:15
of his godly ones. that he sings over you, that
29:19
because of what Jesus has done, his arms are
29:22
not crossed, his toes not tapping, and the God
29:24
that you serve doesn't have a bony figure going,
29:26
step up, step up, step up. But he's really saying,
29:30
come on up. Come on up. Come on up. I love you.
29:33
We can do this together. Surrender unto me. Let
29:37
my power flow through you. Realign your life
29:41
and your goals and let me make you like my son.
29:46
The unspoken need is to develop character. And
29:49
I, over the years, I call it the pathway to spiritual
29:54
maturity. And Jesus came, remember John 10, 10,
29:57
I came that they might have life and life abundantly.
30:02
Bio is life, right? Biometrics, biochemistry,
30:06
biotechnics, there's all kinds. And so I took
30:09
that little acronym bio, that means come before
30:12
God daily. Come before God daily. Off your body
30:18
is a living sacrifice every day. Seek first the
30:21
kingdom of God daily. Get into the scriptures
30:23
daily. Talk to God daily. Listen to good podcasts
30:27
daily. Memorize a verse and set your heart daily.
30:30
Come, the B was before God. And then when you
30:34
come before God daily, what you'll find is there's
30:36
lots of commands that you can't keep. In fact,
30:40
they're impossible. They're in the second person
30:41
plural in English. In other words, it's you all
30:44
love one another. You all honor one another.
30:46
You all. And so the I was for in community. In
30:50
community weekly. And in community, not just
30:53
a small group. I mean from the heart. Go deep.
30:56
Be honest. Be real. Get authentic. Let the real
31:00
you meet real needs for the right reason in the
31:02
right way. Let your love be without hypocrisy.
31:05
Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be
31:07
devoted to one another in brotherly love. That's
31:10
Romans 12. Nine and 10 or so. And then finally
31:15
is, would you be willing to be on mission 24
31:18
-7? I mean, from the moment that you get up before
31:21
you walk out the door. If you're married, these
31:23
are my kids. Here's my wife. I'm on mission.
31:26
I'm going to serve. I'm on mission. I'm going
31:29
to drive like I'm on mission. But you're on mission
31:32
because you're a servant. And then when you show
31:34
up, you're a servant leader. And when you repair
31:36
the plumbing here and the electrical here, when
31:39
you build the house over there, you're a servant.
31:42
And then you're a servant in the church. You
31:43
discover what your spiritual gifts are. And you're
31:46
not just like, hey, I sat, I listened, we ate
31:48
lunch, I thought it was pretty good. What do
31:50
you think? There's a ball game. That Christianity
31:52
got us nowhere. It's your act if you participate.
31:57
Will you own your own spiritual growth? If Jesus
32:02
said he came to give you life and life abundantly,
32:05
would you own the discipline and the pattern
32:08
of coming before God daily, doing life in community
32:12
weekly, and being on mission 24 -7? And what
32:17
I'm telling you is that will change the course
32:19
of your life. Everybody's on a path. And I used
32:23
to do this all the time, but I'm going like through
32:26
Proverbs, through Proverbs, through Proverbs,
32:28
then I go through Proverbs, then after that I
32:30
go through Proverbs. And I'm just seeing the
32:33
path, the path, the way, the path, the path,
32:36
the highway, the path. There's a path that goes
32:39
this way, a path that goes this, path of the
32:40
righteous, path of the evil. Bio is a pathway
32:44
to godliness. I was 28 years old. I've got three
32:49
kids. I'm going to school full time. I'm working
32:53
full -time now in a little church, and I'm stretched
32:56
from end to end. There's not enough time. I barely
33:00
can pay my bills, and sometimes I can't pay my
33:02
bills. And I had the privilege of being in a
33:06
brown bag lunch with one of my mentors, a guy
33:08
named Howard Hendricks, who was a professor.
33:11
And he got up on the board, and he wrote four
33:16
words. And the first one was priority. He said,
33:22
who do you really want to be? And then he wrote
33:30
another word a little bit later that said schedule.
33:35
If that's really important, where is it in your
33:37
schedule? And then he wrote another word, discipline.
33:41
He said, are you willing to pay the price to
33:43
become that kind of person? And then he said,
33:47
guys, you're all a bunch of workaholics, overachievers.
33:51
who this seminary tends to attract. He said,
33:55
I want you to write something down. God will
33:57
never love you any more or any less than he loves
34:00
you right now, period. When you pray, he loves
34:04
you. If you forget to pray, he loves you. You
34:06
read your Bible this morning, he loves you. You
34:07
don't read your Bible, he loves you. His love
34:11
isn't earned. It's not a performance. Christ
34:16
died for all your sins before you were even born
34:18
and committed any of them. Now, it doesn't mean
34:21
that there's lacks, but you can't earn his love.
34:27
He said, so then life really is rather than trying
34:31
to prove something to others, in my case, to
34:36
my dad, if you really would believe you're really
34:40
loved, then the way you say thanks to God is
34:45
by who you want to become. Dallas Willard had
34:51
a great line. He said, the greatest gift you'll
34:53
give to anyone and especially to the world is
34:55
nothing that you accomplish but who you become.
34:59
And I was tired. I was just applying all my workaholic
35:05
tendencies to my faith. And it was 32 miles from
35:10
downtown where the seminary was out to where
35:13
this little community where I was pastoring this
35:15
little church. And I'll never forget, I pulled
35:18
off at the Grand Old Dairy Queen. And I just
35:22
couldn't shake. If I really believe God loves
35:25
me, who do I want to become? And I'm famous for
35:30
not having a lot of paper with me, so I started
35:34
taking DQ napkins, and I wrote down, I want to
35:38
become a man of God. I want to become a great
35:42
husband. I want to become a great father. I want
35:47
to become a great friend. I want to become a
35:53
great pastor one day. And I don't know why I
35:57
said this, but maybe it was because where I was
36:00
and I was struggling, and I want to stay in shape
36:03
until the day I die. And then I remember what
36:07
Prof said about my schedule, and I got out a
36:09
sheet of paper. And I'm that dairy queen. I said,
36:12
okay, I'm going to spend this block of hours
36:14
every morning, a minimum of an hour with God
36:16
every day. And then I put a block where, you
36:21
know, every Friday morning for four hours, I'm
36:23
going to have a date with my wife. And then I
36:25
put in these five out of seven nights, we're
36:27
going to eat dinner as a family. And then I had
36:30
a couple buddies, and they liked to play hoop
36:32
like I did, and I thought, okay, I'm going to
36:34
plug into my schedule. I'm going to work out
36:36
with these guys and share my heart about where
36:39
I'm really at instead of who I wish I was. And
36:43
then I put my kids, I put all my kids on my calendar
36:45
so I'd meet with them individually at least every
36:47
other week along with what we did. And every
36:50
Friday night, this is what we're going to do
36:51
as a family. And did I do it perfectly? No. But
36:54
I will tell you what, from age 28, Until all
36:59
my kids were grown and some of those things,
37:01
I'm still just pressing ahead. I set my heart
37:05
to be a man after God's own heart. I set my heart.
37:10
And we've had lots of struggles because of our
37:12
alcoholic family past, both hers and mine. Lots
37:16
of struggles in our marriage. But we got 42 years
37:19
under our belt. I've got four grown kids that
37:22
have had their ups and downs, but they walk with
37:24
God. Okay? I'm not promising that everything
37:28
comes out your way. It's been extraordinarily
37:30
hard. Set your heart to be a godly man and get
37:36
it from some general idealized something, someday,
37:40
someway into a schedule where you come before
37:44
God, do life in community, and get on mission
37:48
24 -7. And early on, oh, building the new habits.
37:54
deciding to not watch TV at night, a weird thing
37:58
happened. I went to bed an hour earlier, ended
38:00
up, didn't need an alarm. God woke me up usually
38:03
by five or a little before. I added two hours
38:06
to my day. Life changed. You have certain things
38:11
that you unconsciously do that are a sheer waste
38:15
of time and distraction, taking you to places
38:18
to become the man you don't want to be. Substitute
38:23
them. And then be very gracious with yourself
38:26
because you're going to mess up a lot. Because
38:28
God is very gracious with you. And then find
38:31
a band of brothers. Find a couple, three guys
38:34
that say, come hell or high water, we're going
38:36
to be this kind of man. We're going to be this
38:39
kind of man. And when you blow it, and you will.
38:45
With tears streaming down your face, you shoot
38:47
straight. Man, I went to a place that I haven't
38:50
been in a long time and it wasn't good. And you
38:53
repent and you're accepted and you get loved
38:55
and you get back up. It's the Christian life.
39:02
You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip
39:04
Ingram and a message titled Step In, part of
39:07
a series called You Can Make Disciples, Personal
39:10
Coaching from the Apostle Paul. We'll hear more
39:13
from Chip in a moment. If you'd like to revisit
39:15
today's message or share it with someone, you'll
39:18
find it on the Living on the Edge podcast. Subscribe
39:21
wherever you listen. And for the complete unedited
39:24
version of Chip's message, check out the Chip
39:26
Ingram Sermon Podcast. Chip kept coming back
39:30
to one word today, integrity. And his point wasn't
39:34
that you have to be perfect, you just have to
39:36
set your heart on it. If today's message inspired
39:38
you to make a change, Chip's book, Yes, You Really
39:42
Can Change, is the next practical step. And because
39:45
this series is about discipleship, the way Jesus
39:48
poured into his disciples, we're including an
39:51
extra copy with every purchase. Share it with
39:53
a friend, a family member, or someone who's ready
39:56
to grow but isn't sure how to take that next
39:58
step. Look for the book, Yes, You Really Can
40:01
Change at livingontheedge .org slash offers.
40:05
If Living on the Edge has been part of your walk
40:08
with God, we'd love for you to be part of keeping
40:10
it going. A gift of any amount goes directly
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toward reaching more people with this kind of
40:15
practical biblical teaching. Give today online
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at livingontheedge .org or by calling 888 -333
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-6003. You can also give by mail by writing to
40:27
Living on the Edge, P .O. Box 3007, Atlanta,
40:31
Georgia 30024. Chip, today's teaching from 1
40:36
Timothy 3 is such a good reminder, not to strive
40:39
for perfection, but to build integrity. Well,
40:42
that is the point, isn't it, David, this whole
40:44
passage? You know, we talk about leadership,
40:45
and the secular research is the number one thing
40:49
about being a great leader. is integrity. And
40:54
I ask, as I was teaching this, I really gave
40:56
the people in the room time to revisit their
40:59
goals and how they were going to measure success
41:02
and to do a personal inventory. And then I wanted
41:05
to give them a pathway. And so I want to talk
41:08
to you right now about that. And bio for us is
41:12
just, it's a rhythm of life. It's a pathway to
41:14
become a godly, righteous person with integrity.
41:18
It's not some legalistic thing, but You just
41:20
can't become like Jesus unless you spend time
41:23
with him. And so just coming before God every
41:26
day, making knowing Christ the number one important
41:29
thing in your life, and practicing that. And
41:32
then the second is, as you come before God and
41:35
you're in his word, you realize, I can't live
41:38
this life. Only the Spirit of God can, but I
41:40
can't do it by myself. And I think about that
41:43
weekly. I have to have some face -to -face, heart
41:46
-to -heart. I need to do life where I can share
41:49
my hurt, share my struggles, share my victories,
41:52
and do life with other people. And whether that's
41:55
a small group or whether that's three guys at
41:57
work that are all believers or three women in
42:00
a Bible study or a couple study, but you have
42:03
to do life in community. And then you realize
42:05
that just as Jesus was a servant, we're a servant.
42:08
And so from the moment that you get up to how
42:11
you drive your car to how you spend your money
42:13
to... where you order your coffee or what you
42:15
do at work or on the job site or what comes out
42:19
of your mouth, you're on mission. And Jesus'
42:22
mission was to seek and to save that which was
42:24
lost. Paul's mission was to present every person
42:27
complete. mature in Christ, and they have entrusted
42:32
us with that mission. And so, bio just gives
42:35
me some kind of railroad tracks to ask myself
42:38
on my journey, am I coming before God? Am I doing
42:41
life in community? And am I on mission 24 -7?
42:45
I hope that helps. Thank you, Chip. I'm Dave
42:48
Drury. Next time, Chip Ingram unpacks why some
42:50
people who once walked closely with God eventually
42:53
walk away. What Paul says about that is something
42:56
every believer needs to hear. That's next time
42:59
on Living on the Edge. Today's program is produced
43:05
and sponsored by Living on the Edge.